Your home is most likely the greatest investment and asset you have, and as you build or remodel your kitchen, we will encourage you to make choices that will work well for you 10, 20 or even 30 years from now. Katrine Ames of This Old House magazine says to avoid “dating” your kitchen, consider a standard square layout, classic white cabinetry and neutral stone countertops for timeless form and function.

Older homes’ kitchens often have poor traffic circulation design and inefficient workspace, so when we work with a client to redesign and remodel a kitchen area, we examine what they and their family need now and years later.

This Old House remodeled a 1940 one-story weekend house that needed more space overall. The architect’s challenge was to design a kitchen they would “still love in 30 years.” Uncomplicated lines and utilitarian workspace was the client’s choice. The kitchen area was enlarged by eliminating a ground-floor guest bedroom. An island was added as well as a breakfast nook. The well-organized white cabinets were designed to hold specific-sized dry food storage containers.

Beauty, durability . . . Trilogy Partners professionals take kitchen design from cramped to comfortable, using sustainable, ageless design and materials.

Photo Source: This Old House

Our clients have always requested more durable and aesthetically pleasing bathroom design as they build or renovate their Colorado homes in the past. But now, more and more people — including Trilogy Partners — want sustainable, eco-friendly and energy-efficient bathroom areas in addition to a visually appealing space.

We want to work with our environment while saving money, and there are several ways to achieve this sustainable bathroom design:

• Multi-spray showers are so wasteful they are banned by the DOE (Department of Energy). For your shower, choose low-flow fixtures.
• Eliminate your bath tub to save water and space. But if a luxurious soak is one of your greatest pleasures, remember, less is more. Smaller, not spa-sized tubs are trending.
• Older toilets can use as much as 5 gallons of water per flush! Install water-saving toilets for your bathroom.
• As you design your new bathroom, choose natural materials. Other considerations include recycled material tile or post-consumer glass tiles. Avoid carpeting or hardwood flooring in your bath; waterproof materials and good sealing will save you repair costs 20 years from now.

We are designing and building now with consideration for the future. By specializing in sustainable/green design and materials, your home will have beauty today and energy savings for life.

Photo Source: Apartment Therapy

image via Flickr

Sustainable design has become popular among high-end architects for good reason. Eco-friendly furniture is good for the environment and also your health in the long run. Furniture designed with sustainable materials preserves forests by repurposing materials. Sustainable furniture design also avoids toxic chemicals used in most furniture today. Here are a few of our favorite furniture pieces from a new face in sustainable design.

New York-based designer Michael Robbins creates one of a kind handmade sustainable furniture from reclaimed wood. He got his start in New Mexico while building stools and chairs for his adobe home. Each piece of  furniture is handcrafted from his work studio, an old barn in the Hudson Valley. Robbins focuses on the art of form and simplicity in his design. His collection is quite new, and was just released in 2012.

Though Robbins designs and crafts each piece of furniture himself, every piece has its own unique feel. Some dark wood, some light wood, others are blends of dark and light or even painted neon green. More recently, he has added tables and lighting to his portfolio. Robbins take a classic twist on traditional furniture, by giving it the look and feel of abstract art.

image via Flickr

Wood is an amazing, versatile, natural element that produces a variety of effects. Each type of wood offers its own unique grain and characteristics when stained. Your choice in colors used on your wood features can be just as important a decision as the type of wood itself.
Here are some basic tips to keep in mind as you make your decision:
Light – Light colored woods and stains will often add the element of an open space, making it perfect for areas that you desire a large amount of wood surfaces. With a high gloss it also provides a reflective surface to bring more natural lighting into the room. Blending light wood with dark surfaces makes the ultimate dramatic contrast for your home.
Dark – Dark woods and stains provide a sleek and modern appeal. It is often associated with a masculine, powerful, and modern impression. Too much of dark woods in a location can be overwhelming it should therefore be used with caution.

Your Colorado architecture selections can be made much simpler with the assistance of our professionals. At Trilogy Partners we thrive in unique structures that incorporate sustainable and natural elements.

image via Flickr

Smooth, round river rocks have been used for centuries in a variety of architectural designs. Such a long history of usage has not made them less popular today. The trend of using smooth river rock lends itself naturally to your Breckenridge luxury home plan.
There are many uses for river rock in interior and exterior design, but do not use them inside a fireplace, because when heated to a high temperature the rocks could explode.
A variety of size options are available, from tiny pebbles to large round stones. The natural assortment of colors makes them fun for planning your palette, regardless of whether you mix and match schemes. Solid colors, such as black can make an impressive statement as a focal point in a room decor.
Imagine massaging your bare feet every time you step into your river rock shower floor. A river rock fireplace will only enhance the natural mountain setting so abundant in your Breckenridge luxury home environment. Consider a earthy outdoor setting with the loose spreading of pea-size pebbles underfoot. Compliment your marble or granite kitchen countertop with river rock walls.
Let the Trilogy Team help you design and build your Summit County home. Contact us today.

Plan your next home remodeling project with the use of different levels to creatively differentiate your living spaces. Changing levels can better define and utilize your floor layout.

Adding a few steps to half a floor either up or down can enhance your innovative style, no matter if you have a one-story or multi-level home. Different effects can be achieved, depending on the number of steps you add.

Liven up your living area with open, closed or a combination of levels somewhere in between. The change can be dramatic or subtle, depending on the look you are seeking. Build an overlook area from the kitchen, a cozy, intimate dining space, or a stylish transitional zone between levels.

Choose an artistic flare in level remodeling that compliments the natural flow within your home. A loft space can be incorporated with a minimal addition of design-build that can utilize otherwise wasted space and break up high ceilings.
Even just a single step or two can create a soft flowing transition from the living room area to the kitchen or dining hall areas.

Contact Trilogy Partners today for help with all your home remodeling ideas. Email or call us today at 970-453-2230.

Here at Trilogy Partners, we believe that each historical architectural style has something to teach. This week, we’ve been inspired by the upcoming Great Gatsby film to talk about Long Island homes of the past. Here are some of the features of these residences that inspire us:

• Solid materials. The Westbury House, pictured below, has a solid cedar shake roof and hand-made brick. The home, in the Charles II style, has undergone renovations that were respectful to its original architecture. It was completed in 1906.

Image via Curbed. Photos: James Robertson/Pbase.

• Balance and proportion. Winfield Hall embodies Classical notions of balance and proportion. The look may be a bit stiff and formal for some, but it certainly is not going away anytime soon.

Image via Curbed.

• Thoughtful landscaping. Native trees were planted on the grounds of Hempstead House circa 1912. Today, they look as though they have been there forever.

Image via Curbed.

A SIP – Structural Insulated Panel – is a building component sandwich. It’s an energy efficient foam core laminated between two layers of wood sheathing, faced with drywall, fiberboard, metal, and even plastic. Well-designed and manufactured SIPS will make a house more energy-efficient, stronger, tighter, and more comfortable. There are some other appealing virtues to structural insulated panels that will make you want to build with them, including:

Image: Solares Architecture via Houzz

• SIP’s are a green building product. SIP walls demand far less lumber than conventionally framed dwellings. Because the wood panels are made with wood chips, 95% of a tree can be used, as opposed to only 63% if it’s sown into solid lumber.
• SIPs outperform conventional walls in fires. According to data from extensive laboratory fire testing and reports on SIP houses from real-life incidents, they are more resistant to fires.
• SIP walls are highly efficient. Foam provides much greater insulating value per inch than fiberglass batting.
• The foam is continuous throughout the wall, without the pockets and flaws in batt installations between studs.
• Foam won’t allow air infiltration inside the panels; if installed correctly they can be completely sealed.

Since 1998, Trilogy Partners has been building the finest homes in Summit County, contact us about structural insulated panels at 970-453-2230.

We are always searching for unique ways to incorporate green design into our homes, and using reclaimed scaffolding wood for the home’s structure or in its interior design scheme is one way to accomplish this.

Image: Inhabit.com

An excellent example of a home that benefited from the use of reclaimed wood is ‘Casa Box‘, which is a spectacular modern renovation of a caretaker’s home located on a Brazilian island. From the coastline, the home is essentially a concrete cube, but its contemporary design utilizes reclaimed wood from the original structure for the doors, windows, and stairway. Architect Alan Chu of Silveira e Cristiano Arns Kato Architectos designed the home with the intention of using the recycled leftover wood from the original structure to create contrast and layers of depth to the unique and simple structure. The use of the recycled wood adds tremendous character to this already stunning home, reminding it of where it once came from.

To learn more about ways that Trilogy Partners has incorporated repurposed materials into our projects, please be sure to view our sustainable design portfolio.

If you want your bathroom to provide more than just a space to clean up, consider including some of these dream bathroom ideas to your home remodeling plans. They are all great ways to make your ensuite master bath feel more like a spa retreat-and we could all use a little relaxation in our day-to-day routine.

Image: Divine Kitchens via Houzz.com

• Spa-Like Shower – Build a shower area that provides plenty of space. You can even install a comfortable bench. Make sure you have plenty of shelves or niches to hold your bathing products.

• Universal Design – Make sure the shower is accessible as you get older and your mobility decreases. These days universal design features like grab bars and curb-less shower stalls can be included in stylish and subtle ways that you’d never notice-until you need them.

Image: Moroso Construction via Houzz.com

• Warming Features – It gets chilly in the Colorado mountains, so a small feature like warming bars for your towels will feel like quite a luxury when you emerge from the shower on a cold morning. For even more comfort, consider radiant floor heating.

• Hidden Convenience – Install drawers that provide storage for your hair dryer, straighter and other bathroom accessories. You can even include outlets into the drawers.

Image: Phil Kean Designs via Houzz.com

• Morning Kitchen – A shower and a coffee are necessary morning rituals. So why not add a coffee maker or espresso machine to your ensuite bath and closet area?

Which of these features would you love to have in your Colorado luxury home? Contact us today to discuss our luxury home remodeling services.